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Every couple of years, rumors surfaces of some slim chance that a live-action Legend of Zelda film is about to get the green light from rights holder Nintendo. Then, as suddenly as the speculation began, it fizzles out, leaving fans feeling dejected about the lack of a big screen quest for Link and Zelda.

Really, though, The Legend of Zelda’s storyline and overall visual look vary so much from one video game installment to the next that a film adaptation would probably fail to please gamers whose favorite chapter wasn’t used as the specific source material. On the other hand, Metroid, Nintendo’s dark space adventure, has the foundation for an awesome, crowd-pleasing movie, as this fan-made live-action short film shows.

You can thank Rainfall Films for a lot of the pining Zelda fans do for a full-length movie. Back in 2008, Rainfall produced a teaser-trailer for a live-action Legend of Zelda film, which premiered on video game website IGN…on April 1.

This time, Rainfall doesn’t have any calendar-based trickery up its sleeve, as it openly admits that Metroid: The Sky Calls was made without any involvement by or endorsement from Nintendo. That doesn’t make the finished product any less awesome, though.

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Compared to its Zelda trailer, Rainfall’s newest project is a much meatier creation, clocking in at over 10 minutes in length. As it opens, we find Metroid’s heroine Samus as we know her best, descending to the surface of an isolated planet to explore a mysterious incident.

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Things soon take a dangerous turn, though, and Samus has to employ a number of her powered suit’s iconic mechanisms, including its Grapple Beam, upgraded Varia defense, and Morph Ball (or Maru Mari for you 8-bit/Japanese language purists).

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The digital effects and environments look great, capturing the mood of oppressive isolation that the best Metroid titles have done so well.

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The music also borrows notes and beats from the video game series’ soundtrack, and overall the whole thing feels very faithful to the tone of the games it’s based on.

▼ The in-helmet shots do have a serious Iron Man thing going on, though.

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But Metroid isn’t all brooding exploration, so Rainfall Films doesn’t skimp on the action, either, as Samus gets a visit from some old adversaries.

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So don’t feel sad that we still don’t have a Zelda movie, feel happy that we do have this awesome Metroid video…then feel sad that it’s not even longer.

Source: Gigazine via Hachima Kiko
Images: YouTube/RainfallFilms